On Saturday we took part in the VSCC Lakeland Trial, my third time on this particular event since starting the hobby.
As you know, in February we broke the crankshaft during the Northern Classic Trial, another tough event in Cumbria using many of the same hills as the VSCC Lakeland. Since then I had been using a temporary engine made up of spare parts, which has performed surprisingly well over the last four events.
Over the summer the new engine has been assembled by a skilled engineer friend who specialises in working on Austin Sevens. It?s based on a very low mileage marine block and crankcase, new steel crank, rods, and pistons. A standard Austin cam has been profiled and set just so for maximum torque, and an alloy head and sump finish off the package. Really there?s a lot more work than that in it, and suffice to say, it?s a beautiful engine.
We ran into some initial problems running the car in, as after only a hundred miles or so a terrible knock developed. This transpired to be the big end bearing on #3 failing, and after much head scratching and consultation it was discovered that the new rods did not have crucial oil flow holes drilled into them to allow fresh oil to circulate into the bearing. Being white metal, this meant new white metalling and a worrying time delay at a crucial time early in the season.
Luckily the work was finished exceedingly quickly and within a week the car was back, and knock free. Before the trial we racked up 500 miles testing the engine and running it in, and it?s a different beast entirely to the old one. Oodles of low end grunt finally give me the confidence to back off on a hill to regain grip, and know the engine will come back.
After a shaky start when the PDVCC Autumn Trial was unfortunately cancelled due to weather, we come to Saturday and the VSCC Lakeland, a trial by fire for a new engine if any existed. My first hill was ?Drumhouse? the steep slate track up Honister slate mine which in 2015 scuppered me with my weak engine, and in 2016 elated me when I reached the top. This year was nerve wracking as I hadn?t previously pushed the engine so hard. I was amazed to find that the new engine pulled all the way up at ? - 1/3 throttle, a massive improvement.
[video=youtube;8HST-IgAAs4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HST-IgAAs4[/video]
The rest of the day went very well with surprisingly good weather for the lakes in November, and by the end we found ourselves in the pub awaiting the results. We took home a 2nd class award, our highest achievement in the phenomenally competitive VSCC , and my first award at my ?home? event.
Next week ? the VSCC Cotswold Trial!